We request funds to support an international symposium entitled Integrative Membrane Physiology in the Post-Genome Era to be held September 5th-9th, 2012, at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This will be the 66th Annual Symposium of the Society of General Physiologists (SGP). The annual symposium of the SGP has a long-standing reputation as being one of the most pioneering, collegial, and high-impact meetings for physiologists, cell biologists and biophysicists spanning all career stages (including students, postdoctoral fellows/researchers, and junior and established investigators), professional arenas (including academic, government, private, and pharmaceutical) and nationalities. With typically less than 200 participants, SGP symposia are large enough to provide in-depth coverage of thematic topics and small enough to encourage small- group discussions and foster cross-disciplinary collaborations to tackle the increasingly complex problems in human health related to membrane transport. The budget is structured to facilitate these productive interactions by supporting an exceptional lineup of invited speakers, a diverse group of junior-, intermediate- and senior-level scientists, and a strong attendance of underrepresented and underprivileged researchers. A highly ambitious program comprising a veritable who's who in the ion transport field has been carefully developed for the SGP 2012 symposium. There will be two keynote addresses delivered by internationally recognized leaders in ion channel research: Dr. Michael Welsh (HHMI/University of Iowa) and Dr. Robert Kass (Columbia University). The program was developed by a distinguished Organizing Committee consisting of leaders in the membrane transport field, including J. Nerbonne (Washington University), L. Ptacek (University of California - San Francisco), A. Ribera (University of Colorado) and A. Verkman (University of California - San Francisco). The symposium will focus on 4 major themes: (1) Genomics and Ion Channelopathies, (2) Genetic Model Organisms, (3) Ion Channel Complexes, and (4) Drug Discovery. There will be two independent sessions on Drug Discovery, highlighting efforts to translate basic science discoveries into novel therapeutics for transport-related disease. The SGP and members of the Organizing Committee are poised to ensure the success of this meeting. The symposium will focus on the most exciting and timely discoveries in membrane transport physiology, with an overarching emphasis on translating this work into novel therapies. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We request funds to support an international symposium entitled Integrative Membrane Physiology in the Post-Genome Era to be held September 5th-9th, 2012, at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This meeting will be the 66th Annual Symposium of the Society of General Physiologists (SGP). The annual symposium of the SGP has a long-standing history and reputation of being one of the most innovative meetings for membrane transport physiologists, cell biologists, and biophysicists worldwide that span across all career stages (including students, postdoctoral fellows, new investigators, as well as established and senior scientists) and professional arenas (including academic, government, private, and pharmaceutical).